Gate Keeper
by Epiffanie
Summary: Dreams of angels? Demonic boyfriends? A werewolf boss? Rosemarie Hathaway never had a normal life. Now, with just one dream, everything changes. She has to learn fast or deal with the utter chaos. AU Rated for drinking and later chapters
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

"**The future destiny of a child is always the work of the mother."  
-Napoleon Bonaparte**

It took me a while to realize that I wasn't having my normal dreams.

Usually, my dreams were of hot, muscular, tan guys in board shorts, rubbing suntan lotion on my back while I lay on the beach. This dream that I was having now, was anything but. Sure, it started out with the hot guy, but it quickly turned into the kind of dreams I hated. You know the kind that makes you wake up in a cold sweat and breathing heavily like you were running a marathon? Those are the kind of dreams I wish that I could avoid, but they tended to find me like the plague.

I was standing on a wooden bridge with a stream running under it. I had been here so many times before and just knowing where I was scared me. On both sides, it was full of sun and life; there were fields all around and fish swimming in the pond below me. There was no difference to the sides; they looked almost identical to one another. I know, right? Ren is being stupid if she thinks that a beautiful field with green grass, wild flowers, and huge trees is part of some nightmare.

Well to me, it is.

I hadn't physically been to this place, but I always seemed to end up here in my dreams. It wasn't because my mind had a repetitive imagination either. This was the boarder where heaven and hell met, and this was going to be my destiny. It was my mother's fault. Well…I guess it was more of Lilith's fault. You know, the first woman in Eden before Eve? She's usually portrayed as a demon and I guess she is, but I'm a direct descendant of her and the Archangel Gabriel. Nope, it's not a joke. My family is descended from both angels and demons.

This brings us back to the dream I was having. My family has always been the keepers to the gates of heaven and the gates of hell. One person, one direct descendant, was chosen and another was called, only when the Keeper was killed. What really sucked was that if my mother died, I was the last one and if I happened to die before having a kid, the world would completely end. Now _that_ is a lot of pressure to put on someone.

"Rosemarie." I turned to see Michael standing in front of me. He was an asshole, but angels aren't really like the ones you read about in the bible. "It is time."

"Yeah, sure," I said, rolling my eyes. "Like it's been almost time for the past seventeen years I've been alive? Sorry to break it to you, but my mom's kick-ass. She won't go down so easily."

He stared at me. "We are sending protection."

"Protection?" I repeated. I was ready to curse out an angel, but the last time I happened to do that, I ended up having blisters all over my legs and smelling like smoke for a week. I was not going to have that happen to me again. "You already have Christian watching my back. Do I really need another stuck up angel around?"

Before he could reply, I felt something both burning hot and ice cold around my neck, making me gasp out. This had never happened in my conversations before. Usually, I just pissed off some angel or demon enough for me to be sent back and wake up at about three in the morning. This stuff was hurting and there was also a tingle on the back of my neck, almost like something was swirling back there.

"You cannot escape your destiny," Michael stated. "It has been written."

With that, everything around me disappeared into a black haze. Slowly, opening my eyes, I found myself in the back office of the bar I worked at. That was the absolute worst meeting with an angel I had ever had the displeasure of having. As a matter of fact, Christian Ozera was the only angel I could have a semi-civilized conversation with without attempting to invoke someone's wrath. He was actually pretty cool once you got to know him and trust me, I got to know him, especially since he and my best friend, Lissa, secretly started going out—it's kind of against some rule for one of them to date a human.

Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was only midnight which meant that my break was over, and I hadn't even had the chance to eat anything. I was ready to scream at the angels for not giving me a chance to eat, but if anyone heard me, they would think that I was mentally unstable and I couldn't have that. Instead, I fixed my hair and straightened my clothes before going back out to the floor.

Paranormal was a roadhouse-a bar for those of you who care-in the middle of nowhere Nebraska, not very well known, but well loved by those who did know. We had some regulars that were usually there every night along with some that we only saw occasionally, and even a handful that we never saw again because something may or may not have happened to them-of course they could've also been on their way someplace and just stopped for a drink before continuing on their journey.

"Hey, John," I said, leaning against the bar. "Have you seen Christian and Lissa tonight?"

John was the owner of Paranormal and was pretty cool besides the fact that he turned into a wolf every full moon. He had cropped brown hair and piercing green eyes that could make any mortal look twice. He had been in the army, in Iraq, when he was bitten and became a werewolf. Of course the military just shrugged it off as an attack and discharged him with honors. He was probably the one person you wanted on your side more than anyone else.

"They're in their usual corner."

Looking over, I saw that he was right and Christian and Lissa were sitting in a dark corner of the bar, talking about something I probably didn't want to hear.

"Rose." I turned back to him. "You might want to pull your hair down for tonight."

He grabbed a napkin and quickly scribbled something on it before sliding it over.

_Your mom passed, didn't she? You have the tattoo on your neck._

I was in shock at that, quickly pulling the rubber band out of my brown hair and fluffing it up with my hand so it looked like I'd had sex. Not only would this get me more tips, but it would also make it harder for everyone around to find out the truth of what had happened.

All supernatural creatures knew about the Gate Keeper—it was legend to most of them—and they would probably freak if they knew that I was the new one, even if it was a known fact that all Gate Keepers came from my family. I really didn't want to have to quit my job, but at the same time, I wasn't sure that John would like for all his business to be trying to get me to open the gates to hell so Lucifer could get free.

"Thanks," I said, grimacing. "I owe you one." I leaned over to one of the bar tenders who had just started two days ago, which meant that I had no idea of his name. "Hey, new guy! I need two beers."

I knew for a fact John would get mad at me for just going over to talk to Lissa and Christian if I was on shift. However, if I was working and just happened to strike up a casual conversation with them, it was no big deal. I could possibly get away with talking to them for about five or ten minutes but any longer I was looking at having my ass handed to me by the boss man.

Walking over to my two friends, I saw that they were now making out, which was not something anyone around here needs to see. Instead of being subtle about breaking their enjoyment up, I set down their drinks and whacked Christian on the back of the head with the tray.

"What the hell?" he growled, turning around. "Very subtle, Rose." I rolled my eyes. "What do you want?"

"Drinks." I motioned to the two beers on the table. "And I need to talk to you after we're closed. It's important."

"I figured."

Lissa looked confused about everything, but I didn't blame her. She knew about the Supernatural and everything that was hooked onto it thanks to the fact that she knows my mom and she's dating Christian. She also knew that there was a shit load of crap that we didn't tell her because we didn't want to get her even deeper than she already was. That would just end up with her either getting killed or turned into something like a were or a vampire or something of that nature.

"Hey, Gate Kid!"

I rolled my eyes at that name. All the paranormal that went on in here, you'd think someone would be able to know that I hated that name. Then again, they probably all knew and just did it to irritate the hell out of me. I really wouldn't put it against anyone to do that, especially when the normal customers were here. But Gate Kid was what they called me since I was one from the fabled family.

I turned to walk away, when I felt a hand grab my ass. Of course, I had to whip around and shove him away. That shit didn't fly around here at all, especially when Christian and John were both here. The guy was obviously drunk and he wasn't a regular because if he was, even drunk he would know that touching was off limits, especially with me.

"You need to either lay off or get out," I said, an angry edge in my voice.

"How 'bout you help me get laid?"

Oh no, he did not just say that to me. I turned and walked off, when the man grabbed my arm. Spinning around, my fist made contact with his nose, which got the attention of everyone in the roadhouse. It was deathly silent as John walked over and grabbed the man by his arm, dragging him out of the place.

"What are you all looking at?"

Everyone's attention turned back to what they had been doing before, which was good for me. I absolutely hated attention, and having the ancestry that I did really got you noticed around these parts with all the creeps. Alright, so they weren't creeps per say, there were some pretty cool vampires and weres and other things out there. I mean, that civil war ghost that haunted my old school in Virginia really saved my ass when we were studying that time period.

During my shifts, I always found time to hustle some cocky new person who thought that I couldn't play pool. This shift, there were more than normal and I ended up walking away with a total of seven hundred in cash before deciding that there was no point in indulging the idiots I was surrounded by. There was even one guy who asked to double or nothing my entire winnings, although that one definitely wasn't worth my time and he would probably end up trying to corner me outside after close and beat the money out of me. Like I said, I'm _always_ underestimated.

"It's been a while, Rose."

I froze where I was, leaning against the bar as the familiar beautiful voice whispered in my ear. It had been years, I didn't believe it was possible for him to still be alive because I hadn't heard from him in years, not since high school. He had sworn that I wouldn't see him again unless something life-changing happened, which it did but I assumed it meant for him. He had wanted to stay at the school and teach while I graduated and left.

"Tell me I'm not dreaming," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "Please, God, tell me that this is real."

"I'm not God, but I can tell you that this is no dream."

I turned around to see Dimitri Belikov standing in front of me, towering above me with his over six foot height. His hair was longer than it had been, his dark brown locks pulled back into a ponytail but his beautiful grey eyes were the exact same as I remembered them. He even still had marking across his face of a beetle that labeled him as a demon. It wasn't common, I wasn't even sure what kind of demon he was, but Christian confirmed that he was indeed demonic.

"Dimitri." My arms wrapped around him in a tight hug. "I don't believe it."

He kissed my forehead as he asked, "Do you have time?"

"I'm working," I said, looking away from him. "Um, Christian and Lissa are in the back corner though. If you want to go sit with them until we close?"

He took a seat at the bar, making me smile. Of course he wouldn't leave me alone to go sit with Lissa as fond of her as he was. He would sit at the bar and make sure that no one grabbed my ass, although he was sort of late for that. It was a nice gesture even though he knew very well that I could take care of myself as he was the one who trained me how to fight. He had spent two years teaching me and he would probably start intensifying my training once he found out what I was. He was the only one who would never use me to get to hell or the gates.

The rest of the night, the rundown bar was pretty normal. I ended up with two hundred in tips—did I mention that demons tipped well—five phone numbers, and twelve drinks bought for me—they also love to try and get me drunk. Spending those last bunch of hours were the worst knowing that Dimitri was watching me the entire time.

As soon as the last guy was out for the night—who wasn't Dimitri, Christian, or Lissa—I sighed and pulled out a beer from the fridge, taking a swig of it. I was two seconds away from downing as much as I could to forget about everything that had happened and be able to sleep with no dreams of angels or demons.

"You have to stop," Christian said, taking the beer from me. "You're the one who wanted to talk."

I began scrubbing down the bar to work out my anger. "What the hell, Chris? What the hell happened to my mother?"

"Lilith."

Oh. My. God.

Lilith was one of the top demons in creation, only answering to Lucifer. With the lack of her being around, I had always just believed that she was a myth. I couldn't name a single human or demon that had come across her in the past century or two. Christian probably knew of the last time, but he would never tell any of us.

"Ar-are you sure?" I asked. "I mean, no one's heard from her in…Christian, are you sure?"

"You can take my word for it." I turned towards Dimitri, shock written across my face. "Janine made me leave before she showed up, but I have never felt anything like that before."

That scared me. It was said that you could sense Lilith coming from miles away and even humans could sense her although they wouldn't understand what it was. It made no sense; my mother knew that no one could stop Lilith so why would she do something like that?

The three of them helped me to finish closing while I tried to force everything from my mind. If I stopped to think about what was going on with my life and what had happened to my mother, I would probably start crying. I couldn't afford that. No one could ever see me shed another tear for as long as I lived. Being Gate Keeper meant that I couldn't do pretty much anything anymore.

After two hours of getting me to stop, Christian and Dimitri were able to physically remove me from Paranormal. Instead, we all went to the small house that Lissa owned about four hours from the bar-I usually just lived at the bar unless John kicked me out. It would be pretty annoying to get me back for my shift the next day, but I don't think that those three were thinking that far especially when I was setting myself up to get hurt.

The house was small though it had three rooms and two bathrooms. Her parents were pretty well off and had bought it when we had graduated. It had been meant for the both of us but when I got my job at the bar, I moved out and she and Christian got the house to themselves which I know they enjoyed no matter how often they tried to get me back. The house was decorated by Lissa's mother before we moved in, a black and white chic kind of thing going on. Only our rooms were different, which I was grateful for-I don't think I could spend my time in just black and white-and she also tried to throw some grey in there too.

"Rose, will you be okay?" Lissa asked as we all sat around the kitchen table.

I nodded. "Fine." I was lying and she probably knew it too. "I'm going to bed."

Walking up the stairs, I heard another chair scrape across the linoleum in the kitchen. Someone was coming to talk to me and I had a feeling I knew who it would be. Lissa would never do that, she gave me space if I stormed off. Christian would probably be trying to explain what I was going through to her. That just left Dimitri, who I wasn't sure I wanted to talk to. He had been there when my mom died. He could have stopped Lilith or he could have taken my mom with him. He could have done _something_ to help her, to save her.

"Rose." My name fell from his lips like a soft prayer. "She doesn't understand. She is not from our world."

I bit my lip, still not turning around, as I grabbed a pair of pajamas I had left for whenever I stayed over. If I stopped biting my lip, I would yell at him and blame him and that was not something I wanted to do. He had come because my mother had asked him to. She knew that we had a relationship and, though it had been kept secret to absolutely everyone, she approved of it. She understood that he wasn't human and he wasn't going to hurt me like all other demons wanted to.

"Roza, please," he quietly said. "Just look at me. Say something."

I whipped around, glaring at him in anger. He obviously wasn't expecting this anger, but at the moment it didn't matter.

"What do you want me to say?" My voice was harsh and rough as I threw my pajamas on the floor. "You could have helped her. You could have done something, _anything_ to help my mom. Instead, you ran away and just let her die."

His expression turned guilty. "You're right. But she told me that it would hurt you more if you lost me as well. Would you rather have lost both of us?" I didn't know what I could say to that. "She wanted you to be able to have someone besides Christian who you wouldn't complain about being there for you."

He turned and walked out of the room, officially ending the conversation. That was not what I was expecting, but I wouldn't go after him. I just wanted to blame someone and he was the perfect person to blame. It wouldn't be pretty in the morning—Christian and Lissa could handle it after being friends with me for so long-and we would probably not talk to each other, but he wouldn't leave; not if my mom asked him to watch over me. He had respected her more than anyone else and he wouldn't betray that no matter what, especially if it had anything to do with me.

Getting my pajamas, I went into the bathroom and changed before going back to my room and climbing into my giant bed. I had forgotten how comfortable this bed had been.

That was the last thought I had before I fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed and alerted/favorited this story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy. I just like to play with the characters.**

Chapter 2

_It was the screaming that woke her up._

_It wasn't that she had never heard it, but she could never get used to that sound whenever they brought someone else. It was another girl; they only ever rarely brought boys because they put up too much of a fight. Girls only screamed because they were taught not to fight and to be good little girls. They especially liked girls from the south._

"_Please," the new girl begged. "I just want my mama."_

_She wanted that too. Her mama was so strong, and she knew that her mama could save her from these people. They would be in trouble when her mama finally found her and this new girl._

"_It's no use," one of them, a male, laughed. "Isn't that right, Lily?"_

_The other one, Lily, giggled. "She'll come sooner or later. We've taken her daughter and we've been leaving clues." Suddenly, Lily picked her up and tossed her onto a couch. She cried as she felt the pain in her arm and her ankle. "Have your fun, but do _not_ kill her."_

"_You've got it boss."_

_The door closed and she whimpered as she felt the hot, sweaty hand grab her arm._

My eyes shot open, a scream waking me from my dreams. It only took me a moment to realize that it was my own scream. There was a pair of arms wrapped around me, holding me tightly to a body with the scent of southern summers, smoke, and paprika. This was a different scent than anyone else, but it was so familiar that I couldn't help but cuddle closer.

"You're safe," Dimitri spoke in a hushing tone as he ran his fingers through my brownlonde hair. "They can't harm you."

I shook my head, burying my face in his shirt. A conversation with an angel would have been better than that dream. I hardly had it anymore, but when it happened, I could barely stand it. That dream was so real; it was like it could have been me there instead of that little girl. The pain was so real.

After I pulled myself together, I forced myself out of his warm embrace. He was so amazing, but I couldn't rely on anyone anymore. This was all on me, even some stupid dream that made me want to curl up and cry or even run away from my life like I had tried to do my entire life. No amount of running could get someone away from dreams. Trust me, I had tried too many times to count when I was a kid. It didn't work and it only ever got you or someone else close to you hurt.

Walking downstairs to the kitchen, I put a kettle of water on for some tea. That would be the only thing that we had to calm myself down, not counting going back up and snuggling with Dimitri, which totally wouldn't be happening. Looking around, I had never really noticed how big this place seemed to be.

But I guess living in a bar for the better part of three years was going to make any place look insanely big and beautiful. The cupboards and drawers were all a darker wood that looked almost red-cherry if I remember correctly-and the counter tops were marble. I couldn't believe I had never really gotten a good look at this room considering how often I had been here.

"She's worried about you."

I whipped around in shock to see Christian standing behind me, his dark hair in his face and his dark piercing eyes staring at me as if he were staring right through me.

"Damn it, Christian," I said, turning back away from him. "Do you have to be so fucking quiet?"

He just shrugged, leaning against the counter top. "She thinks that you're mad at her."

"That's-"

"That's just what she's told me."

I sighed, turning the stove off and pouring both of us a cup. I tossed my tea bag haphazardly in the cup, causing the water to splash all over. Lissa thought that whatever was going on was her fault, and I was blaming Dimitri for everything. This was really not going over well, especially considering that I had so much on my plate already. They were all bringing up things that I was not ready to deal with and I never wanted to deal with. Even the cosmos were throwing things at me that I sure as hell didn't want to deal with.

Staring at the tea that was being held in my hands, I couldn't help but think back to that dream. It had happened too often and through too many years to be really happening at the present. It could be that I was seeing what was happening among demons. But then again, it was always the same one girl in it, and she never aged.

"Do you want to talk?"

I glanced over at Christian who hadn't moved an inch. "My whole life just changed, Christian. In the matter of one dream, my entire life changed direction. All because some demon decided she wanted to go after my mother."

"It's your-"

"If you say destiny, I will throw this tea at you." I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. "It's just so confusing. I spent the past twenty-one years just being a regular person, and now, I have to change my entire plan."

He gave me a skeptic look and asked, "You had a plan?" I rolled my eyes, seeing his smirk. "You don't have to change anything. Just be prepared to practice fighting more and actually fight now."

I couldn't help but smile at him. He had a point, but I just didn't know what it was yet. Then again, I was half asleep.

When my tea was gone, I set the cup in the sink to clean it in the morning before heading outside. It was strange, but being in nature calmed me more than I could explain. I loved how there were no rules in nature, and anything could happen at any moment. There was no reason to be scared when surrounded by nature because everything in nature relied on each other. It was humans, us, who were destroying everything, and we had to stop before this beautiful place was gone forever. I didn't even realize what time it was as I watched the beautiful sun rise. We had only gotten to the house at four that morning, so I hadn't gotten much sleep. Of course I didn't ever get a whole lot of sleep but this was even less than usual. It would cost me when I went to the bar for work, but at the moment it didn't matter. Nothing mattered to me except that sunrise.

After the sun was up in the sky, I walked inside to see the other three all sitting around in the small kitchen table. I grabbed an apple and walked up the stairs, not wanting to talk to anyone. I changed into a pair of jeans and a tank top, along with a pair of fingerless gloves. I needed something that would make me stand out, even if it was just warning everyone to back off. Pulling my hair back into a ponytail was a risk, but I didn't want it in my face while I trained.

Lissa and I had made the basement into a sort of gym that was mostly for me, even if she used it every once in a while. There was a punching bag, some weights, and a treadmill while the floor was covered in padding so no one was hurt while working out. We wouldn't want anyone to be hurt after all, especially if they were only human-cruel but true.

"Rose?" I didn't bother looking over at Lissa as I continued punching the bag. "What did I do? Why are you so upset?"

I sighed at that. "You didn't do anything," I said, placing my hand on the punching bag. "I just...I need some time away from everyone. It has nothing to do with you."

"If it's Lilith and your mom-"

I whipped around to face her. She looked scared, almost as if I was going to hit her or something else. It hurt so much to see her do that; she didn't understand the pain of what I was going through, as much as she tried to relate. Her mother had passed away three years ago and as upsetting as that was, it had been a freak accident with the breaks of a car not working. This was a murder, and I knew who the murderer was-she was probably off laughing about it somewhere.

"Can you get Christian down here? I want to spar with him."

"Why not Dimitri?" I looked away, not able to reply to that. "We could hear you last night. Do you really think that it's his fault? That he's why Janine died?"

"Of course not."

"Then why?"

I couldn't answer to that; I had absolutely no answer. That was a stupid comment on my part, and I would forever regret ever saying that to him. He had no choice since my mother would never given anyone that option. She would rather get herself killed than risk anyone else's life on something that she knew she could stand a chance against. That was something that we both had in common; I guess it ran in the family to be selfish by being selfless.

Instead of saying anything, she walked away. There was so much that I wanted to tell all of them, but I just couldn't. There was no way to tell them without getting Lissa in deeper than I wanted her involved in this. With Christian, there was a chance of invoking his wrath since he was so close to Lissa and hurting her made him angry. As for Dimitri... there was no way I wanted him involved in this life even though he had been working with my mother.

I stayed downstairs a while longer before heading upstairs to get ready for work. I threw on my tight, white short-sleeved shirt that had the name Paranormal scrawled on the upper right side of the front as well as my black shorts and a pair of tennis shoes. For my hair, I pulled it back, only it was in a low ponytail instead of my usual high one and I also covered up the mark on the back of my neck.

"Who's taking me to work? You know, since my car is back at the bar."

Christian tossed me the keys to Lissa's truck-his but it was in her name-and said, "We're staying in tonight."

I gave them a sly smile before heading out to the truck. The only problem was that as soon as I got there, I sensed something and dove for cover as a crash of thunder sounded, echoing through the trees.

Standing up, I saw that there was a wolf that was surrounded in lightning and thunder. This beast, I recognized from my mythology class in high school. It was called Raijū, a beast in Japanese mythology. They were supposed to be calm, except they would be riled during a storm and start shooting lightning.

"Get Lissa back inside!" I didn't have to turn to know that they had all come out to see why it sounded like thunder in the middle of a sunny day. "Why are you after me?"

The creature just let out the roar again, causing me to cover my ears. This thing was not what I had trained for. I had thought that I would be going after vampires, weres, and creatures like Dimitri-no offense to him-but instead, I was face to face with some creature I didn't even believe existed. Alright so I should have been more open, but this was still insanely stupid. If this thing existed, how many other strange creatures were out there?

"Rose!" I couldn't turn my back on this thing, especially when it was coming after me. "You know what to do. You know how to get rid of the Raijū."

I stared at the creature in front of me, trying to figure out what Christian meant, when it lunged at me. I had no choice but to hit the ground again and duck, just doing my best to survive. It was going to be hard to get rid of this thing when I knew nothing about it what kind of creature it was. That was the point of all those late night extra study sessions with Christian and Dimitri and they sure weren't coming in handy at the moment. Those were about how to get rid of common creatures, not random ones that just appeared out of nowhere.

_Lanzamento._

I didn't understand why that word popped into my head, but I yelled "Lanzamento" and waited for something to happen. A sword appeared in each hand, my fists clenching them tightly as I stared down the creature in front of me. It didn't matter what had happened at the moment or how they appeared.

All that I could think about at the moment was killing this thing or, at the very least, making it retreat. I wasn't going to allow it near the others, even if Christian would heal from it; there was no telling what would happen to Dimitri or Lissa if this thing came near them.

The creature came after me a third time, but this time I was ready for it. Instead of ducking, I stabbed out, causing it to jump back and growl. I saw that there was a silver substance coming from a wound I caused, which I assumed was blood. I couldn't help but be in awe at the fact that I had made a dent in that thing. Really, I thought that I would have to try and run from this thing for the rest of my life or surrender to it and get attacked to the point where all hell broke loose. Literally.

"Leave and I will spare you." My voice was a low hiss.

The creature stared at me with its piercing eyes in a look that could only be described as pure hatred. I had no clue what I did to it, but it was obviously coming after me and wanted me dead. If I had to-at the moment, I didn't care if John fired me-I would be willing to threaten anyone in Paranormal when I got to work to get information about what was going on. I could claim that my mother was in town and I was trying to find information about why this thing was coming after me. Then again, if she was here, she would be going in there herself and demanding answers.

"Rose!" Christian's voice called out. "Don't take things lightly."

"Leave."

The Raijū stared at me for a moment before stalking away. I turned back towards the others, walking towards them when I sensed something running towards me. Tossing the sword in my right hand at whatever was coming towards my back, I turned to see that the Raijū had fallen to the ground with the sword in its chest. The flames and thunder were going out as well, indicating that it was, indeed, gone from this world. Part of me really hoped that this thing didn't have a master or there would be one angry god on my ass.

I pulled out the sword from the chest and muttered, "I told you to leave."

Lissa ran over to make sure that I was okay as Christian and Dimitri walked at a much slower pace. The swords in my hands both disappeared as she reached me and flung herself onto me, crying. I couldn't understand why she would be crying over what had just happened. Nothing about it included her in any way. But there she was, tears and all.

"What are you crying for?"

"That-that thing almost killed you." Her voice cut through me as I realized why she was so upset. "And you didn't... Rose, you didn't even care."

I turned to Christian who said, "That was good for your first kill."

The way he said "first kill" made it sound like I had no choice in killing supernatural creatures which, in reality, I sort of didn't. There would always be weres, vampires, and other things whom I couldn't bring myself to kill but there were always more creatures who would come after me to get the gates to hell open. Or maybe even angels would come after me for all I knew. They couldn't get back up to heaven without my key either. They wanted the gate to heaven open just as much as demons wanted the gate to hell. This was going to turn into one very long battle before I was done.

"How the hell did I know how to do all that?" I demanded. "For God's sake, I have never before seen my mother fight or summon anything."

"It's in your blood. You've always known how to do this. It just took an attack on you to make you realize it."

That just pissed me off like crazy. They insisted that I remained on the border of the worlds and that I keep training to keep my reflexes up, only to find out that this was all ingrained into me. If I had known that all of this was going to happen, I would have put up more of a fight against Dimitri training me.

"I have to go," I muttered, turning away and climbing into the truck. "I'll be back in a while."


End file.
